Lisa A. Ruth–Sahd, RN, DEd, CEN, CCRNMelissa Schneider RN-BC, DNP, ONC

York College of Pennsylvania

ObjectivesObjectives

1. Define the current issues regarding attendance policies in CCNE accredited baccalaureate nursing programs across the United States.

2. Describe the EBP process used by the investigators.

3. State the EBP question.

4. Share faculty and student perspectives on attendance policies.

5. List three EBP recommendations for addressing attendance issues.

The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model and Guidelines

The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model and Guidelines

The PICOThe PICO QUESTIONQUESTIONPerson, Population, ProblemStudents & Faculty, CCNE BS nursing programs,

Inconsistent implementation of attendance policies

InterventionMore structure to the attendance policy

Comparison with another variableCurrent attendance policies at CCNE BS programs

OutcomePromotes faculty autonomy along with student satisfaction and learning

PP

II

CC

O

Background and Current PracticeBackground and Current PracticeWhy do we do what we do?Why do we do what we do?

Our Current PracticeOur Current Practice

James Madison University

May miss 4 classes without penalty, if more than that then points are deducted based

on professor discretion

Jefferson University May miss 2 classes without penalty, if more than that then points are deducted based

on professor discretion

Messiah College Open –Students may come and go as they please including walk in late or leave early

Thomas Jefferson University

Individual courses – some courses have penalties others do not

University of Pittsburgh Open –Students may come and go as they please including walk in late or leave early

York College of Pennsylvania

Individual courses – some courses have penalties others do not

Definition of Open Attendance Policy

Definition of Open Attendance Policy

� Variable

�Students may miss as many classes as desired without consequence

�Students may come in late or leave early

�This does not apply to testing sessions

�This does not apply to clinical sessions

EBP QUESTIONEBP QUESTION

Are more structured attendance policies in the best interest of the faculty and the student and more

conducive to learning than our current nonstructured attendance policy?

Are more structured attendance policies in the best interest of the faculty and the student and more

conducive to learning than our current nonstructured attendance policy?

Collecting the EvidenceCollecting the Evidence

Databases

Pub Med , CINAHL , Cochran , Google Scholar,

reference lists, professionalorganizations

Key WordsAttendance policies; faculty beliefs and values; student

beliefs and values

Search Parameters English language, articles from 1995-2011

# Articles 22 articles reviewed

Evidence Level Number of Articles

I: Experimental 0

II: Quasi-experimental 0

III: Non-experimental/Descriptive 2

IV: Opinion of nationally recognized experts based on scientific evidence

5

V: Opinion of nationally recognized experts based on experiential evidence.

8

Levels of EvidenceLevels of Evidence

**22 articles reviewed. 7 articles were “C” quality and not used for recommendations.

EVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTSEVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Students prefer to be given the choice when attending class

Resistance to attendance policies from faculty also

Conflicting evidence -attendance policies and improved performance

Important to support ‘adult’learning enviroment

EVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTSEVIDENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Attendance policies are enforced to varying degrees CCNE accredited colleges

Practice of taking attendance is gaining new emphasis in some institutions

Students have many external commitments that interfere with class attendance

SURVEY

� Randomly selected schools from CCNE list of accredited Nursing Baccalaureate programs

� E-mails sent to 65 schools

� Return replies – 27 (42%)

� No response – 38 (58%)

� End result –

14 actually did participate in online survey (22%)

SURVEY RESULTS STUDENT:

(591 responses)

• Demographics (age, marital

status, level, working, children, gender, ethnic group, GPA )

• Number of times absent

• Reasons

• Current Course has attendance policy

• Is this policy fair?

• Believe should be a policy for attendance

FACULTY:

(91 responses)

• Current course has attendance policy

• Believe in attendance policies

• Believe students who do not attend class are exhibiting unprofessional behavior

• Believe students who do not attend class generally do poorer overall

Applications to PracticeApplications to Practice

• Continue using a structured

attendance policy allowing for two absences without penalty.

•Be understanding as to students reasons for class

absence.

•Class absence does affect performance and convey this

relationship to students.

REFERENCES

Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard, V., & Day, L. (2010). Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Doyle, L., O'Brien, F., Timmins, F., Tobin, G., O'Rourke, F., & Doherty, L. (2008). An evaluation of an attendance monitoring system for undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education in Practice, 8, 129-139.

Golding, J. M. (2011). The role of attendance in lecture classes: You can lead a horse to water... Teaching of Psychology, 38(1), 40-42. doi:10.1177/0098628310390915

Hughes, S. J. (2005). Student attendance during college-based lectures: A pilot study. Nursing Standard, 19(47), 41-49.

REFERENCES (Con’t)

Leufer, T., & Cleary-Holdforth, J. (2010). Reflections of the experience of mandating lecture attendance in one school of nursing in the Republic of Ireland. Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 2(1), 18-28.

Lipscomb, M., & Snelling, P. C. (2010). Student nurses absenteeism in higher education: An argument against enforced attendance. Nurse Education Today, 30, 573-578.

Mattick, K., Crocker, G., & Bligh, J. (2007). Medical student attendance at non-compulsory lectures. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 12, 201-210. doi:10.1007/s10459-005-5492-1

McCarey, M., Barr, T., & Rattray, J. (2006). Does mandatory attendance improve student performance? Journal of Economic Education, 37(2), 99-109.

REFERENCES (Con’t)

Price, K. M. (1984). A study of short-term absence from work among a group of third year student nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 9, 493-503.

Rae, T. (2011). Just showing up: Educators focus on attendance to help students succeed. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Just-Showing-Up-Eduactors/127765

Risen, D. M. (2007). Attendance policies and student grades. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 10(1), 1-6. doi:10.1177/1555458906297707

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